Supreme Court tells UP government not to give effect to public notice on use of well around Sambhal mosque as 'Sri Hari Mandir'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Sambhal municipal authorities not to give effect to its public notice issued through posters describing a well around Shahi Jama Masjid as 'Sri Hari Mandir' available for puja and bathing by Hindus.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued notice to the state government on a plea by the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid committee.

The court sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government by February 21, 2025, by asking it not to give effect to the notice.

It sought a status report in the matter within two weeks.

The state government submitted that the situation around the place was peaceful but the applicant sought to create an issue.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the mosque committee, submitted that a notice issued by Nagar Palika called the well being used for ablution purposes as 'Hari Mandir'.

The bench observed that there was no harm if the other side also used the well.

The counsel said the half of the well was inside and the other half outside but the state government was taking a partisan stand.

The court, by issuing notice, asked the state government not to give effect to the notice.

The plea by the mosque committee claimed the district administration, in its purported drive for the so-called revival of old temples and wells, is giving publicity to the proposed public access being granted to the use of the well, claiming the said wells to have religious significance.

Posters have also been put up around Sambhal and near the mosque indicating purportedly the location of historical wells and therein the mosque has been shown as a temple. These posters also bear the indication that they have been installed by “Nagar Palika Parishad, Sambhal", it said.

The application claimed the said private well is situated at the entrance of the Mosque and partly inside it, and opening the same for Hindu prayers will result in mischief and disturb the fragile harmony and peace in the area at the moment.

On November 29, 2024, the Supreme Court had told the district court not to act upon a survey ordered in a suit claiming construction of the mosque on a pre-existing Shri Harihar temple until the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid committee approached the Allahabad High Court.

The court had also directed Uttar Pradesh to maintain peace and harmony in the area, where four protesters were killed during the heavy stone pelting. The court also ordered the survey report of the advocate commissioner's report should be kept in sealed cover.

The plea filed by the Committee of Management, Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal questioned "the hot haste" in which the survey was allowed and conducted all within a day and suddenly another survey was conducted after a couple of days with a notice of barely six hours that had given rise to widespread communal tensions and threatened the secular and democratic fabric of the nation.

The survey was ordered by a civil judge (senior division) on a suit filed by advocate Hari Shankar Jain and others.

According to the plaintiffs, Shahi Jama Masjid at Chandausi was built by Mughal emperor Babar in 1526 after demolishing the Shri Harihar temple.

On December 12, 2024, the apex court, while acting separately on a batch of pleas against the Place of Worship Act, 1991, restrained all courts from entertaining fresh suits and also from passing any interim or final orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places.

The apex court passed the order on petitions filed by NGOs Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and All India Muslim Personal Law Board for implementation of the 1991 law.